1:30 am: Almost done. Dishes stored. Floor reset. Countdown to square 1. Chimes. TEXT: “Chef, my ex is acting all crazy again, I want to come in but he will probably follow me. Can you come and open with me?” This f*cking guy again? Somebody needs to kick his disrespecting okole. No ha (breath/life), no aloha. REPLY: “Sure, be safe.”

2:15 am: Pillows from heaven. Bed, finally. An Angel? Wife’s voice, “you know you have to go and meet her.” Drifting. “I already said I will. How was the kid’s performance?” They practiced on the Grille’s private terrace the other day. Parents know, kids assume we don’t see. “They did really good, I’ll show you the videos in the morning.” What was life before video?

5 am: There is a time too early for coffee. Here it is. Awake in darkness. Roll down the Waimea hill. Tiny lights of a waking island. Road Warriors. Triathletes on mid-morning sessions. Resort workers arrive from across the island. Tourists gather to stroll. Sprinklers land water spots on rental cars.

5:30 am: Park & scan. “Morning Chef!” All clear. “Morning, I can see your crazy ex is not here. Let’s get set this morning, we have a 20pax (person) at 11am. Tonight at 6pm is a party of 60 so we can also start prep.”

6:30 am: Office e-mails. “Aloha Chef, I know I said we were going to have 60 but it will probably be less, is that ok?” REPLY: “Not a problem, how many less?” Sent.

10:30 am: Check-in. No unread e-mails. Check-in. “How does the private dining room look? The party of 20 will be in soon.” “Good, all set Chef, but I cannot work it. I am slammed in the main dining room. Can someone else do it?” Do the shuffle. “Ok, I will take the drink orders and we will have Lisa take the food.”

11 am: Restaurant is slamming. Seats full. Bar full. 20 top welcome. Food almost done. Time saver: drink orders. “Aloha, can I get you drinks to kick off?” Maybe 10 minutes. “Oh, no. We are just having water and we are starving.” Ok maybe no minutes, ducking wonderful. Food is close. “Alright, we are keeping the food warm and it will be right out.”

11:10 am: Back in the kitchen, “How long until the food is finished?” “5 minutes Chef.” Not bad. “Ok, good job guys, once this food is out it’s on to prep the 109’s (bone-in ribeye). There’s a 60-top tonight but it will probably be less. I’m just waiting to see the final number.”

11:30 am: E-mails. No final number. Be ready for anything. Wife calls, wants to know how long till I leave. “Sorry Hun, I might as well stay and finish up for this party tonight. Go ahead and take the kids to Hilo.”

11:45 am: “Chef, what else do we offer gluten-free?” You worked here for one year and you still do not know what gluten free is? “Local catch, wrap, and we have the gluten free pasta.”

12 Noon: Chimes. TEXT: “Aloha Chef, Mike here, are we still meeting to finish taxes?” REPLY: “Sorry Mike, I had to go in again this morning, let’s do next week.” Great, I’ve cancelled on family, taxes, what’s next? Back to prep.

1:30 pm: Throw 2 prime ribs in the oven. Need time to rest, the meat and me.

2:30 pm: Unopened e-mail: “Aloha Chef, I am really sorry but we only have 18 people arriving for the party.” Profuse profanities. 18 out of 60. I have enough food for 60 people. REPLY: “I have food for 60 people, we will need to discuss the charges.”

3:30 pm: Emerge from the office. Looking for initiative, not so much. Dining room still not set. Bartender sampling wines with a vendor. Staff gaggling about anything but the party. “Oh, hell no! You guys need to get your shit together. The dining room isn’t going to set itself and clean that bar.” I need focused people, now, right now. “You, Wino, take your bottles before I throw them out the door.” Half-kidding, or was I?

Some regulars are in for happy hour. They gesture to me and say hello. Enjoying themselves. Entertaining High Maka Makas and 1933 Mai Tais. Mai Bacon, BBQ sauce. James Bond marathon. Casino Royale.

5:30 pm: Dining room set. Time to party. A few guests take pictures in the foyer and out on the green. Coordinator arrives. “Hi Chef, I am sorry about the reduction in numbers. What will be a fair charge for dinner tonight?” “You guaranteed 60 people so I think you should pay for 40. I have your food bought and most of it cooked or prepped. It’s not like I can use it for something else.” Here comes the rebuttal. “40? I was thinking more like 20. My boss is not going to be happy about this. You will need to talk with him.” 20? You’re kidding, what an insult. “Sure, just come in the kitchen when he arrives and we can straighten this out.” He is not my boss.

5:45 pm: The coordinator enters new territory. “Chef, may we enter? This is Michael.” The decision maker. Game face on. “Hey Michael, I was explaining about the cost of the party and I will still need to charge you for 40 people.” “Are you sure? Look, I have my own business, you can charge me for all 60.” Day. Made. “Thank you very much.” Hand shake. Hand shake. Party time. “Howard, he loves McCallan 12. Get him a double neat and whatever he wants to drink tonight. It’s on us.”

The party sits down to the meal. They love the food. Paired with three bottles of McCallan 12 year aged single malt Scotch whisky. They appreciated us and we returned the gesture. Great Scots & Mahalos!

8:15 AM: “Chef, Mike is on the phone. He has some nice Ahi, are you interested?” Hell yes, I’ll take that call. “Chef, I have grade A Ahi (tuna). $13.95 per pound, you interested?” Play. It. Cool. “Sure, I can take 20# (lbs.). Thanks Mike.” Perfect timing! I am working on a new dish. Ahi is a perfect protein to experiment with, see if it works.

8:20 AM: “Chef, BB is here about the flooring install.” Handshakes and shoulder tap. “I do not mean to bother you but do you make the decisions for the restaurant?” Red Flags. “Actually, no, I do not. My wife does and she will be in at 10 am.” Haha, sorry Honey. Damn sales people, rats, all the same. Be more like BB.

8:30 AM: BB and I agree on final floor design. Handshakes and another face. Another one! “Chef, I am working on that beer quote and am almost finished.” All the same. “You said that 3 weeks ago and still nothing. You originally told me you were going to have it installed by last Wednesday. Still nothing. I already reached out to another company and am going with them.” “Oh, that is bull shit!” Another one bites the dust. AMF! (Adios Mother F*cker). Don’t let the door hit you on your way out.

8:45 AM: “Chef, we are out of coffee.” Blank stare, processing possibilities. “How are we out of coffee? I bring in 200# at a time. At no point from #140, #100, #80, #20, to #5 POUNDS, did you think, ‘Hey, I might want to tell Chef.’?” Unbelievable. Secret stash.

9:00 AM: Computer system for the entire restaurant crashes. Some days, technology doesn’t want to work for you. “OK guys, you need to hand write your tickets. Please write nice so the kitchen is able to read it.” One of my staff writes like a serial killer. Always double check the writing.

9:05 AM: First ticket. Written like shit. “Can you please write nicely? I just asked you.” “Oh, sorry Chef, I forgot.” “It’s been 5 minutes. Get your head together or it’s going to be a long day.”

11 AM: Prep cook arrives. “Jackson, let’s clean and roast these veggies. We also need potato ribbons, kabayaki pearls, and some truffle dust for tonight. Did you check the sweet potato in the dehydrator? Let’s see if we can make a salt with them too.”

3pm: Dinner cooks arrive. Review night service. Reservations, VIPs, and sequence. “Crunch time is at 6 pm. We need to push out those first orders as soon as they arrive so we can stay ahead.” “Yes. Chef, are we running the gnocchi with shrimp dumpling app again?” “Yes, let’s bring in some mentiko for next week and see if the guests are ready for something new.” Chefs always want to put fun things on the menu but it’s the guest who dictates it. As a community builds trust in a Chef, we can slowly start to integrate different, fun (to cook and eat) ingredients. Reminder set.

4 PM: Front of House staff arrives. “Alright, I have the table assignments. Set it up as I have it. Let’s meet back up at 4:45 pm for pre service (meeting).” Post the roles.

4:10 PM: Servers huddled looking at the assignments. Pick-a-littles, talk-a-littles. Head over before the assignments are picked to bits. “What’s wrong?” “Well, I was thinking that I will take table 25, he can take table 11, and we share the Lanai.” “No, that means you will crisscross stations all night. Assignments are finished. Stick to the choreography. This is how things get confused in the middle of a rush. We need to be on the same page all the time, do not over think it and do not change it.” Play the part and it will be a beautiful thing to watch.

4:45 PM: The final piece. Dress rehearsal. Pre-service meeting. “We have ricotta and basil gnocchi with shrimp dumplings. Let’s run the braised beef shank with roasted Kekela farms veggies and savory garlic grahm.” Service notes. Tech notes. Sommelier notes: “I need you to push the Barolo, only 2 bottles left and complements tonight’s beef shank.” Ready or not, show must go on.

6 PM: Curtains up. “Aloha, we are here for the Peggy-Sue retirement party.” Mistake? “We have her down for tomorrow night. Let’s wait for Peggy-Sue to arrive and we can talk.” Scenarios, options. “Hi Chef, I sent you an e-mail last night letting you know we needed to change the reservation, to tonight.” Full dining room, game plan, can handle. Damn computers. “I am so sorry Peggy, I did not see the e-mail. Give me 15 minutes and I will have you set up. It is still 15 people, yes?” Obvious anger. Need to make this retirement party a special experience. Direct the staff for set-up and sidebar the kitchen. “Fire some goat cheese rounds and send them to Peggy’s table, start them on something nice.” Full dining room means slammed kitchen. Need to get her food out fast. “Howard, make them a round of signature cocktails, we need to buy the server some time to get to the table. Goat cheese amuse in 3 minutes.” Something celebratory… Sugar Plums… Yuzu!

Luckily for me, my staff stepped it up 10 notches and made it happen. A standing O (ovation) for that night. I made table side yuzu (an aromatic citrus, like a grapefruit) and honey ice cream. And Peggy-Sue? She was happy. I am thankful she trusted us to do our job and give her a memorable experience. Sometimes you have a customer who insists on a table or insists on our mistakes. Shit happens, but this is what we do in our business, we still make magic and dreams come true. Just let us make it happen.